Download the Readiness Assessment Report (PDF) prepared by Campaign Consultant Steve Siegel of James D. Klote & Associates, Inc.
All Souls kicks off capital campaign with over $3 million committed
On Feb. 5, All Souls congregants and friends gathered at a single, combined worship service to kick off our capital campaign, Third Century Challenge: Building on our heritage. Realizing our dreams. We heard uplifting music, an inspirational message from Rev. Rob Hardies, and encouraging testimonials from Carol Falk and Alan Johnson, and Jenice View and Colin Danville. The campaign’s co-chairs, Chuck Woodridge and Janet Randolph, explained what had taken place so far to get All Souls ready for the kickoff and then announced that early support for the campaign had already secured over $3 million dollars in pledges.
What happens next? Here is what Chuck and Janet shared with the congregation.
From Chuck Wooldridge
Three months ago we began to select and train the leadership for the Capital Campaign and immediately began the quiet phase of the campaign to begin fundraising.
Significant pledges have already been received from this group of donors representing a cross section of All Souls leaders from members of the Board, CAPT, Campaign Steering Committee, and others demonstrating a strong commitment to the long-term vitality of All Souls Church.
From now until the end of June we will engage the rest of the congregation in this historic effort. Each one of you will be visited personally by fellow church members who have already made their pledge and volunteered to help with the campaign.
They will explain the plans for the campaign in more detail and will give you an opportunity to ask questions, will ask for your feedback, and ask for your financial support. These early visits have already proven to be fun and informative.
You will not be asked to make your pledge at the time of the visit. We know we are asking you to consider a significant gift in response to significant needs. Generosity is a spiritual practice and each of you will need to reflect and go through your own discernment around what is an inspirational and sacrificial gift. Take 10 to 15 minutes or … seriously… up to a week to come to a decision that feels right for you. Our volunteers will make arrangements when they visit for a follow-up conversation.
While the intensive solicitation phase of the campaign ends in June, you will have five years to fulfill your pledge.
From Janet Randolph
If you are interested in supporting the campaign, please pick up a brochure and sign up for a visit at one of the campaign tables. Otherwise, expect a phone call in the coming weeks from a committed All Souls volunteer who will want to meet with you. Please say “Yes!” to that visit.
Now we are ready to make the announcement to really kick off our celebration, which will continue through lunch and partying.
So far, 59 families have made an early commitment to the campaign in order to help us kick off today. That represents only about 7% of the membership of All Souls... And those 59 families have pledged a total of $3,010,228!
We know you understand what inspirational giving means since many of those pledges have come in as much as 10 to 30 times over their annual giving. No matter what the amount of the gift, each and every one is significant and will be appreciated and celebrated.
This is just the beginning! Please answer the call to do your part to meet All Souls’ Third Century Challenge to realize our dreams.
Design Feedback Session slideshow
All Souls Church, UnitarianAll Souls Church, Unitarian has a long, rich history. Some of the church’s founders played an important role in the development of American society and culture. President John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, and Charles Bulfinch were among the founders of what was originally known as the First Unitarian Church of Washington.
From the very beginning it was intended to be a beacon of progressive religion and has sought to fulfill that mission to this very day. All Souls was one of the first churches to advocate for the end of slavery, and it has demonstrated a commitment to freedom and justice during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the Central American refugee sanctuary movement of the 1980s, and the marriage equality struggle of the 2000s.
First church buildingOver the years, All Souls Church has changed locations three times. The First Unitarian Church of Washington was originally designed by Charles Bullfinch, who had been chosen by President Monroe to be the architect of our nation’s Capitol. It was located at 6th and D Streets.
Second church buildingIn 1878, as All Souls Church, the church was moved to 14th and L Streets where it resided until 1920.
Our third, current church buildingIn 1923, All Souls Church moved to its current location at 16th and Harvard Streets. President William Howard Taft, a member of All Souls for many years, was in attendance at the dedication ceremony.
Patterned after London’s Saint Martin-in-the-Fields and listed on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites since 1964, the church is home to the widely acclaimed Rieger organ and the Revere Bell, which was cast in 1822 by Paul Revere’s son, Joseph, and funded in part by President James Monroe.
In recent years, the congregation has grown in size and energy. In one decade, the church has gone from only 200 members to over 1,000. The Religious Education program has expanded from 70 children to over 300. Now poised to enter its third century, All Souls’ best days lie ahead.
The processBut to remain spiritually vibrant, we must attend to the health of our home. Some of the church’s systems are dying, and it is suffering inevitable wear and tear–some visible, much not obvious, but all serious. Some things must be done; others should be done to help us live up to our vision. The longer we wait, the harder and more costly it will be to meet these challenges.
The Comprehensive Assets Planning Team—led by two longtime congregants, Tom Fox and Barbara Corprew, and comprising people of varying experience: civil engineers, economists, budget experts, communications managers, and even a cardiologist.—has been charged with developing a comprehensive plan for the future of our physical assets—the building and grounds. The Team hired the Kerns Group, an architectural/engineering firm, to survey the church from top to bottom. They also talked with over 400 congregants at committee gatherings, town hall meetings, and one-on-ones. They then melded the various forms of feedback into a broad conceptual plan that responds to both the needs of the church and the desires of the congregation. This plan is presented in the following slides.
The planWe received opinions and suggestions, sometimes quite passionate, on everything from the sign outside to the condition of the bell tower. Every function and every mission of the church got a going-over.
The results of the CAP Team’s research broke down into four main categories: (1) Accessibility/Sustainability/Safety; (2) Space for Children; (3) Welcoming Entrance; and (4) Fellowship/Community Space.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThe congregation clearly expressed a priority of creating a safe, healthful, and welcoming church.
We are indeed a welcoming congregation, but not always a welcoming place. The existing ramp is hard to navigate in a wheelchair, making it difficult to enter the building. Once in, stairs up to the second floor and down to the lower level mean that only the first floor is accessible. Adding an elevator is a must for seniors, caregivers, parents with strollers, and people with disabilities. Lifts and ramps are also needed where levels shift.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThe few bathrooms are up to neither snuff nor sniff. The second floor has no bathroom at all, and the children’s facilities can’t handle the growing RE program. The conceptual plan includes refurbishing of all bathrooms and adds a unisex handicapped bathroom on the main floor, a new one on the second floor, and more and better facilities on the lower level.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThe wiring must be brought up to code and modernized to handle today’s basic technologies.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThe aging systems for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning can no longer keep the church comfortable, especially the Sanctuary and Pierce Hall, and are far from green in their energy consumption. These systems must be brought up to date and zoned to allow their efficient use. Insulating the roof, which lacks insulation in many areas, will also significantly cut energy use.
The CAP Team, which is working on computing the impact these changes will make to our carbon footprint, is also exploring the use of roof-top solar panels.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThe church’s “envelope” is compromised. The exterior walls and windows let water seep in and air escape out. This is both a threat to the building’s integrity and a major environmental negative. Sealing the envelope will save energy and help make the building more environmentally sustainable.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetySome of the stonework and cornices are broken.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThere is significant water damage. The roofs over the Sanctuary and 15th St. corridor leak. The aging membranes beneath the terrace and interior courtyard leak water into the lower level.
Accessibility/Sustainability/SafetyThis first category will involve some big ticket items, a great deal of plumbing, mechanical, and electrical work, and much labor. But these important items are necessary to ensure a solid structure for the next generation. The Kerns Group’s ballpark figure for this category is $3 million.
Children's spaceThe second broad category prioritized by the congregational surveys was improving the environment for the congregation’s children. Ten years ago there were 70 kids in our RE program. Today, there are about 300.
Children's spaceThe RE space is dark, dank, and tricky to navigate. There are not enough bathrooms and sinks for the 300 children who attend RE classes every Sunday. How wonderful if we could send them down into a beautiful, light-filled, modern facility (which would, by the way, serve adult congregants and people from the community through the rest of the week).
Children's spaceIn this rendering of the conceptual plan, the Kerns Group creates big, flexible classrooms, and more of them. Natural light is brought in by skylights that open up into the courtyard and terrace and a light well that will illuminate what is now the gym.
Children's spaceThe concept includes converting the gym into a multi-purpose space: a new chapel for children on Sunday mornings and a gathering place for adults during the week. The floor will be raised, and light wells and glass walls will let in natural light. Chairs can be removed to open it up for fun and games, movies, performances, and dances.
The lower level could also lose its “basement” feel by digging and installing a wide flight of stairs up to a new playground. This would also allow natural light to spill down the stairs and into the repurposed gym. And a proposed connection between the lower level and the 16th Street vestibule would make it easy for families with children to enter with other congregants and then descend into a new greeting area.
Children's spaceSoft cost estimates for this work is $4.5 million.
The Big IdeaThe third category concerns the main floor, which has wasted space, inefficiently used space, and, here and there, no space at all.
The cramped vestibule has no room to mingle, chat, or hang coats. The important functions of greeting people, briefing visitors, and handing out orders of service are crowded together. And the 16th St. entrance is open only on Sunday; the rest of the week, people must use the charmless Harvard St. entrance.
The Big IdeaThese problems suggest a “Big Idea.”
The Big IdeaFirst, the Harvard St. stairs would be covered and reconfigured to include a ramp. Inside, the church office and adjoining rooms would be removed (the library and reception room would remain), opening up the space all the way to the courtyard. This would become a handsome narthex, or foyer, where congregants and guests could gather and relax. This would be part of renovating that whole corner of the building, which would also include new bathrooms and office space for the staff.
The Big IdeaThe second part of the Big Idea, the creation of a new main entrance into the church, takes advantage of the building’s most wasted asset—the brick terrace on the northwest corner. A new, beautifully landscaped terrace, accessible by a flight of stairs and a rebuilt ramp, would be a perfect gathering place in good weather. Welcoming doors would lead into the newly created narthex and into the 16th St. vestibule. A covered walkway would make it possible to get from the vestibule to the rest of the church without having to walk through the Sanctuary. This new terrace, with fence removed, would also signal the church’s welcoming attitude to all souls.
The Big IdeaCosts for this part of the project, which would also include renovations of the upper level meeting rooms, could be as much as $6 million.
Fellowship/CommunityThe last category in the conceptual plan addresses the church’s very important, highly utilized, and problem-plagued space for fellowship and community; specifically, Pierce Hall and the kitchen below it.
By sprucing up and air-conditioning Pierce Hall, it will become more enjoyable for the congregation and more rentable for weddings and other events. The current kitchen is basically useless—it does not meet the code for catering. Modernized it would make the building more attractive to outside renters. A dumbwaiter for hauling food up from the kitchen is an option.
Fellowship/CommunityCosts for this final category are roughly estimated at $1.3 million.
The overall costTogether, the costs in the four major ads up to $14.7 million.
The futureWhere do we go from here? First, it is important to remember that this is a conceptual plan that doesn’t hold anything back; thus the price tag. No decisions have been set in stone. Everything remains open to input and reconsideration until the congregation approves a final design plan. The CAP Team still wants to know what you think.
Not everything need be done right away, but some things, especially infrastructure repairs, must take priority. There’s no sense sprucing up the interior when the plumbing is out of date and the windows leak air. For the rest, we need to think about our priorities, choices, dreams.
Before a final plan comes a capital campaign. The amount of money raised will tell us what we can accomplish. The sooner we get to work, the better. Delay means higher costs and more risk to the building as its problems worsen.
Join us on this journey into our congregation’s third century. With your generosity of time, effort, and financial resources, we can ensure that All Souls’ Church, Unitarian will continue its invaluable work for generations to come.
Frequently Asked Questions from Design Feedback Sessions
What’s the plan for raising money to fund the project?
The first step is a capital campaign. If the congregation votes on Oct. 23 to move forward, we’ll immediately begin recruiting volunteers, preparing materials, refining the plans based on your feedback, and engaging church leaders. In late January/early February, ASC will kick off the public campaign. We’ll personally visit every member and friend of ASC to ask them to make a pledge (usually fulfilled over five years). We anticipate finishing the campaign by the end of June 2012.
What happens if we don’t raise all the money? Is financing an option? How about grants?
During the capital campaign, we’ll concentrate on raising as much as we can to fund our dreams. Our investment committee will look at options for financing, and we will explore the availability of grants for portions of the project. (If you know of specific grants or have expertise to offer, please inform the church office.) In general, though, granting institutions want to see a healthy commitment from the congregation before committing themselves. And, because we want to be sustainable, not only environmentally, but also financially, we may need to make tough choices, prioritizing or scaling the project to match the available funds.
How will the life of the church be affected by the construction?
Construction inevitably causes disruption; at times, we’ll not even be able to use the Sanctuary. We’ll know more about the scale of the disruption once we have a design and construction schedule. One thing is certain: church will not stop! We’ll continue to minister and worship as always. It just may be a bit more challenging . . . and exciting.
What is a “conceptual” plan?
The illustrations and floor plans we have now generally address the congregation’s primary needs and desires, but by no means constitute a detailed plan. That will come after we know how much money we have to work with.
Will the four subprojects happen sequentially, all at once, or . . . how?
The best outcome would be to raise enough money to do everything at once, under one construction contract. Failing that, we’ll do as much as possible with the available funds. The four areas of improvement (accessibility/sustainability/safety, children’s spaces, welcoming entrance, and fellowship/community) needn’t be done as distinct projects; they overlap and might be mixed and matched.
How accurate are these cost estimates?
The estimates are as reasonable as can be expected at this stage in the planning. The Kerns group, which has extensive experience with churches, based them on industry standards.
Have technology upgrades to all the spaces been included in the cost estimates?
An allowance for furnishings and audio–visual equipment has been built into the cost estimates.
What happens to the 16th Street entrance?
The 16th Street entrance will stay as is and continue to be used as one of the entrances to the sanctuary on Sunday morning.
What will happen in the Sanctuary?
Other than repairing and upgrading the space (fixing windows, insulating the roof, repairing plaster, upgrading wiring, investigating hazardous materials, etc.), no major changes are planned for the Sanctuary.
Have the displacement costs (for when we must vacate the building) been included in these cost estimates?
No.
Are there security concerns over opening up the terrace entrance?
The CAP Team did not address this directly, but the final design will include a full review of security measures.
Are unknowns and contingencies factored into the cost estimates?
Yes. Contingencies are included for design, miscellaneous expenses, and construction. In addition, the construction estimate has been escalated to the mid-point of the construction period, estimated to be 18 months for all of the work.
Was on-site parking discussed as a possibility?
Yes, but we found no good solutions. We explored the possibility of parking under Pierce Hall, but that would require driveway access across the property of our neighbor, the Mexican Cultural Embassy. This remains a possibility, but would be very costly and would have to be explored outside the present process, as it would involve complex negotiations that could delay our priorities.
Is there a use for the balcony in Pierce Hall?
The CAP Team and Kerns have thought long and hard, but still haven’t found a good way to utilize this space. If you have ideas, please let us know.
How much rental income is generated through Pierce Hall and the kitchen? What might we generate if we remodeled it?
Once renovated and air-conditioned, we’d be able to rent Pierce Hall and the kitchen more often and through the summer. Executive Director Katie Loughary estimates an extra $30,000–$40,000 in rental per year. The additional revenue, however, would not cover the cost of the project.
Has a cost–benefit analysis been done for the “green” items in the plan?
Cost–benefit analyses will be part of the final design process. Our study focused on conceptual ideas for resolving problems revealed in the consultants’ review of the building, and on the ideas gleaned from the congregation.
Who, or what group, will make decisions on what we can and cannot include in the final plans?
The CAP Team will function throughout the entire process. The Team’s make-up may change as members with certain expertise are added or others leave, but it will be responsible for a final design scaled to the available funds. This final design will be presented to the congregation for approval before proceeding.
Is there still time to make suggestions?
Absolutely. Although the design feedback sessions are over, we will continue to take suggestions and make changes based on your feedback throughout the entire planning process.
What exactly is the congregation being asked to vote for on October 23?
The congregation is being asked to approve the taking of the next step, which is raising as much money as we can in a capital campaign. You are not being asked to approve a specific financial goal, and you are not being asked to support any designs, specific or conceptual. Both of those will be determined later, and the amount of money raised will then affect how ambitious the design will be.
If you are interested in supporting the campaign, please pick up a brochure and sign up for a visit at one of the campaign tables. Otherwise, expect a phone call in the coming weeks from a committed All Souls volunteer who will want to meet with you. Please say “Yes!” to that visit.
